Upon the Governor's permission to enter, the door opened and a young man stepped inside.
"Konstantin! My dear boy, how have you been?" The elder greeted him from his seat, warmly as ever.
"Not that bad, considering the commotion last night," the blonde replied, his gaze never meeting the Governor's as it scanned the room, lingering on Norrington. "Don't trust me, do you?" He mumbled to himself, the only one hearing it being the Commodore who narrowed his eyes at the young man.
When he approached the desk, the Governor rose from his seat to shake his hand. "I would also like to introduce you to Miss Delia Veynes," Swann motioned for the woman beside him who also stood confidently, holding out her hand for him to shake.
"Bold of you to bring your concubine to a men's meeting," he remarked dismissively and simply stared at her, without ever taking her hand.
"Actually," Swann let out a nervous chuckle and threw an apologetic smile at the woman who withdrew her hand and watched the young man with a raised brow. "Miss Veynes is a merchant herself. She has come to witness our meeting."
"Whatever," spoke the blonde dismissively and plopped down on his chair. Soon, the Governor and Delia did the same. "Now. Where's my money?"
"I would like to review our contracts first," said the Governor, to which the boy let out an annoyed sigh. "Really? You sign the contract and think of reviewing the copies after?"
"Seeing as you rushed the procedure and urged him into signing, that would be a very reasonable thing to do," Delia butted in as she leaned back in her seat with her arms and legs crossed.
"Muzzle your concubine, Governor." Konstantin ignored her, his gaze boring into Swann's irate one. "That is no way to speak to a lady!" He reprimanded him.
"Do you wish for my father to call off all trades?"
Swann exhaled through his nose, his lips pursed as they stared each other down. The elder was the first to break eye contact and sighed.
"However, I shall forgive you this one time." The blonde reached inside of his coat to pull out his copy of the contract and the two went over them together. Meanwhile, Delia stood to circle around the desk and halted behind the young man. He ignored her until she put her hands on his shoulders. "May the concubine offer the gentleman a massage?" She whispered into his ear and he grinned, not noticing the bitter tone in her voice. "She may."
Governor Swann observed her, furrowing his brows in confusion, but said nothing, deciding to go over the contract instead. Meanwhile, the woman worked her way up to his neck, brushing his collar aside in search for the birthmark the elder had mentioned before.
Norrington watched the men converse about the contract as Delia wordlessly moved back to her seat with a passive expression. At some point, Swann turned to the woman beside him. "What do you think?"
A slight smirk formed across her lips. "I think you have a fraud on your hands."
"What?!" Konstantin exclaimed, glaring at her in disbelief. "Don't listen to her, Governor. You know my father."
He kept trying to convince the elder not to believe her and Swann's eyes darted back and forth between the two. Suddenly, a bang resounded from the table as Delia pounded her fist on the hard wood, causing the men to flinch and Norrington to clutch the hilt of his sword.
"What are you-" The young man was cut short as she rose from her seat and snatched the two papers to rip them in half.
"I've had enough of your bullshit," she growled, causing the boy to almost shrink under her gaze. "You better tell them who you are if you want to keep your head."
"Fine, fine!" He confessed, his sweaty palms running across his thighs nervously. "You're right. I'm not Konstantin Böhm, I just thought I could make some quick money… I- I'm sorry!"
She then turned her head to the Governor, explaining the missing birthmark on his neck, adding the contract had been invalid in the first place. As if on cue, the Commodore sprung into action, seizing the impostor. "You are hereby under arrest for fraud, blackmail, identity theft and misconduct against the Governor."
He then turned to face the other two. "I will take him with me for further investigation. I will meet you at the fort afterwards, Governor Swann."
Weatherby Swann stared at the door incredulously after they had left. "What just happened?" He breathed, still unable to process the events.
"He's a fraud," Delia replied. "I don't know who or where the real Konstantin is, but it's definitely not him."
"My god. Thank you for your help, Miss Veynes."
"Of course, Governor Swann."
"Oh, please, just call me Weatherby."